Novato welcomes In-N-Out Burger with open arms -- and mouths

It was burgerlicious, shakeamazing and fryfantastic. It was the opening day of Novato's long-anticipated In-N-Out Burger restaurant, and Lenia Guthrie was first in line Thursday.

"I got here at 8 a.m.," said the Novato resident, who ordered her favorite, the No. 2 cheeseburger with grilled onions. "They weren't serving yet, but they let me come in and wait."

A line of about 20 people had formed outside the restaurant at 216 Vintage Way in Novato's Vintage Oaks shopping center by the time the fast-food restaurant swung the doors open at 9:15 a.m. Normal opening time is 10:30 a.m.

There were no balloons, no ribbons and no PR folks on hand to talk up the burger joint, with its signature red-and-white interior and familiar yellow arrow logo over the door. Guthrie's husband, James, called it a "stealth opening." But apparently publicity was scarcely necessary.

"We love In-N-Out," said Carylon Lee of Novato, who was awaiting her order in a booth with husband Charles. "I like the fact that they know where their meat comes from. Everything is so fresh and so good."

"We've never had a bad experience in the hundreds of times we've been to In-N-Out," said Charles Lee, who ordered his customary double-double (two patties) with no cheese, extra-toasted bun, mustard only, chopped chilies, whole grilled onions, medium rare and cut in half. At 9:30 a.m.

White-shirted and red-aproned workers engaged in the familiar fast-food ballet behind the counter rustling up burgers, shakes and fries for the crowd of about 40 around 10 a.m. More employees were on hand than usual, according to Carl Van Fleet, the chain's vice president of planning and development.

In-N-Out had announced plans in April 2011 to open a restaurant at the corner of Entrada Drive and Enfrente Road. In August, dozens of neighbors turned out to a community meeting and many expressed concerns about issues such as traffic and noise.

In-N-Out eventually abandoned plans for that restaurant, and the new location, replacing a former Burger King, saw no such controversy.

Councilwoman Denise Athas, who was mayor at the time, said, "I personally am very excited about it. We like In-N-Out very much and that's a great location for it." The restaurant is at the site of a former Burger King restaurant.

Decked out in one of the In-N-Out hats handed out at the door, Libby Zupkow of Novato ordered the "Animal," fries with grilled onions on top. Her friends Elaine Pak and Shannon Conkling, both of Novato, arrived with her around 9:30 a.m. and attacked their burgers with relish (figuratively, not literally; none of the three like their burgers with extra garnish).

Though In-N-Out has locations throughout California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, and Texas, there are only two restaurants in Marin: the newly opened Novato outlet and one in Strawberry. The Novato restaurant has one drive-through lane, with inside seating for 77 guests.

In-N-Out was founded by Harry and Esther Snyder and is still owned and operated by the Snyder family. None of the units are franchised.

"We are impressed with their (In-N-Out's) integrity and their product," said first customer Guthrie. "They are always clean and they are good to their employees.

"We've lived in Novato 43 years," Lenia Guthrie said. "We love it here and now we love it even more."